Michael A. Grace

Recognized as one of the preeminent criminal defense lawyers in North Carolina, Michael (Mike) A. Grace opened his own law practice in 1981 and has been engaged in private practice and criminal defense in Winston-Salem for more than 30 years. He has been admitted to practice in federal courts throughout the United States.

Mike is the only defense attorney to win a verdict of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity in a capital criminal defense case during the 20th century (State vs. Michael Hayes, 1989). He has successfully tried six additional capital murder cases and has had multiple verdicts overturned in federal appeals court. In U.S. vs. Frank McClean, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Mr. McLean’s judgment of conviction and ordered the case be remanded to the District Court and that a judgment of acquittal be entered. More recently, Mike argued in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for Ernie Pitt (U.S. vs. Ernest Pitt), and the court vacated the conviction.

Mike has also earned a reputation as a top civil litigator. He won a multi-million dollar settlement in a lawsuit over the boating accident death of R.J. Reynolds executive T. Wayne Robertson. Mike was lead counsel in a “closed head” injury trial where a Forsyth County jury awarded nearly a million dollar verdict. He has tried and settled numerous cases totaling millions of dollars in awards to his clients.

Mike and the firm Grace, Tisdale & Clifton are one of two local firms who represent local law enforcement through the Police Benevolent Association.

Mike received his Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1977 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1974. He has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1977. He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court, Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of North Carolina; the U.S. Court of Appeals; and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He currently serves as an adjunct professor for the Wake Forest University School of Law. Prior to his work as a defense attorney, Mike worked as a staff attorney for Congressmen Lamar Grudger and Ike Andrews. By appointment of former President Jimmy Carter, Mike served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mike is a member of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Forsyth County Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar, the Forsyth County Bar Association, and the American Inns of Court. He currently serves on the UNC Asheville National Alumni Council. In 2009 he received the Roy A. Taylor Distinguished Alumnus Award at UNC Asheville’s annual Distinguished Alumni Awards for his career as a lawyer in Winston-Salem, and he was inducted into the UNC Asheville Athletic Hall of Fame.

Drugs — major federal and state conspiracies, major drug trafficking and simple possession for drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, oxycontin and other prescription medications

Representative Cases

US v. Ernie Pitt
In this case, appellant Harold Pitt challenged his conviction for mail fraud in connection with a real estate sale on grounds that the district court improperly denied his motion for judgment of acquittal and that the jury instructions were improper. Pitt's conviction was vacated.

United States of America v. Sandako Meshawn Brandon
Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari was granted. The judgment was vacated and the case remanded for further consideration in light of Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, 560 U. S

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